The Conditional Tense
Using one of the easiest tenses to
siphon points from on any free
response question in French
In English
• Usually formed with the syntax if p, then q,
where p is in the imperfect and q is in the
conditional mood.
• Example: If I weren’t doing this PowerPoint, I
would be in bed right now.
• Any instance in which the auxiliary verb
“would” is included uses the conditional mood
In French
• Similar if p, then q syntax known as a “si”
clause where “si” functions as “if”
• Example: Si je ne faisais pas ce PowerPoint, je
me coucherais maintenant.
• Perfect translation between English and
French, where all conditional mood verbs are
the same as saying “would + verb” in English.
• Example: Il ferait ses devoirs s’il avait le temps
translates literally to “He would do his
homework if he had the time.” Very simple.
Forming Conditional Stems
• For –er and –ir verbs:
– Use the infinitive form. That’s all.
… No, seriously. That’s it.
• For –re verbs:
– Just drop the e and use that.
Endings
• Take the stem formed from the infinitive or
otherwise (see irregular conditional stems
ahead)
• Add the ending (see next slide) based on
subject
Endings, cont’d.
Pronoun Ending Pronoun Ending
Je
-ais
Nous
-ions
Tu
-ais
Vous
-iez
Il/Elle/On
-ait
Ils/Elles
-aient
Endings, cont’d.
• Examples:
– To say “I would have:”
•
•
•
•
The verb is “avoir”
Thus, the stem is “aur-”
Add the ending for “je” (-ais) to the stem: aurais
End product: J’aurais
Some Irregular Conditional Stems
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aller : irAvoir : aurCourrir : courrDevoir: devrEnvoyer: enverrÊtre: serFaire: fer-
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Falloir: faudrPouvoir: pourrRecevoir: recevrSavoir: saurVenir: veindrVoir: verrVouloir: voudr-
Endings, cont’d
• Hopefully you noticed, but the endings are
exactly the same as those for the imperfect.
…
BOOM!
This should have gotten even easier.